I recently bought a couple of 4' tall Dawn Redwoods from a nursery, and am now trying to transition them into bonsai. The leaves were already a little brown, supposedly because fall's approaching, but otherwise they looked healthy.

However, I think I made the mistake of dramatically trimming both their roots and foliage. I later read that you're supposed to do one or the other, but not both, in order to give the plant time to recover from the shock.

I'm now growing the plants hydroponically indoors using a deep water culture, on a sunny window sill with supplemental fluorescent lighting. I've used this method to successfully grow a White Willow and Ficus.

While both Redwoods have grown back a lot of their roots, nearly all their remaining foliage has turned brown and died. They still have a lot of small green buds, but they don't seem to be growing any new leaves.

Is there anything I can do to save them at this point? My house is air conditioned, and the air's a little dry. I've read that Dawn Redwood's do well is wet soil, but do they also require high humidity in the air?

Thanks for the tips. However, I don't have any intention of potting them or taking them outside, and intend on growing them hydroponically indefinitely (if they don't completely die of course). I simply don't have the time or patience to manually water them.

Anyways, here are some photos of the one redwood that still has some green:

Is the sprout at the bottom good or bad? I've heard that when a Sequoia/Redwood dies, it will stimulate the growth of buds near the base of the trunk.